Bonnier And Lifeline Ventures Invest In Digital Real Estate Agency

Finnish digital real estate agency Blok closed 1,6 million euro funding round with new investors including Lifeline Ventures and the leading Nordic media company Bonnier. The company challenges traditional real estate agents with its automated broker service and a significantly lower 0,75 % commission.

The fast-growing digital real estate agency Blok has secured a significant round of funding as media company Bonnier and Lifeline Ventures have joined with previous investors, German investment fund Picus Capital GmBh, Evli founder and owner Henrik Andersin, ex-Supercell marketing executive Erlend Christoffersen in the 1,6 million euro financing round.

The company has helped its customers save almost a million euros

Founded in the beginning of 2017 Blok has so far sold over 100 apartments and it has as its customer nearly 300 home sellers. The platform developed by the company automates almost all routine tasks related to selling an apartment. “The apartment owners take care of the showing, while we take care of everything else such as all related paperwork, photographing and marketing” Skogman describes. The service is especially interesting to home sellers since it offers the service for a significantly lower commission than traditional real estate agencies. Blok charges 0,75 % while the current commission average in Helsinki is 3,67 %.

“Our calculation show we have already saved almost a million euros of our customers’ money” Skogman states. “We have also gotten above average prices for the flats,” Skogman says. “We put down a lot of effort into marketing the apartments, for example, we create a 3D-model of each apartment in our service. Through this, the buyer gets a very good view of the apartment even before visiting the apartment”. Placing a bid on an apartment has also been made extremely easy: “You only need to sign in with your bank-ID” Skogman says.

Blok’s turnover for its first year of operation was 100 000€. The company sold apartments for over 15 MEUR in 2017. In 2018 the company has already sold 10 MEUR worth of apartments.

“The new funding will enable to develop and grow our company further” Blok CEO Rudi Skogman says. “We’ve already expanded from Helsinki to all university cities in Finland”. Blok’s goal for 2018 is to establish itself as a significant real estate agent in Finland and then expand to other Nordic markets.

Valerie Vlasenko is a space journalist tackling the dilemma of popularising space. Founder of VSpace Media and an Editor at ArcticStartup - Valerie has rich experience as an entrepreneur, a journalist and a space lawyer.